What Can a High Profile License Do For Your Band? Here's A Casestudy

It's fascinating how quickly things can change. Believe it or not, long gone are the days of being considered a sellout because your song was in a television commercial. In fact, today it's just plain smart to have your song featured in a high profile advertising campaign. Sure, some will be slow to figure it out, while others will forever fight to maintain a clear separation between the worlds of art and commercialism. And if it's the heart and soul of your art you're protecting, so be it. We have nothing but respect for those who take that stand. However, if your objective is to share your art, to get it out to as many ears as possible, and to maximize your audience and exposure, there are few better ways than landing a high profile license in advertising.
We recently stumbled onto an interesting casestudy of sorts, courtesy of our friends at Goodby Silverstein and Partners in San Francisco. Check out the short essay HERE from the Denver Egotist about music licensing and the incredible effect it can have for artists and bands. While not mentioned in the article, apparently the band sold almost 300k copies of the single during the week following the Super Bowl commercial, and they've have gone from #41 to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Holy moley.